The influence of the repetition rate on the nanosecond pulsed pin-to-pin microdischarges

The effect of repetition rate on a nanosecond atmospheric pressure discharge is investigated. The discharge is generated between two pins in a mixture of Ne and Ar. The voltage, current, power waveforms and the temporally and spatially resolved electron density and an 'effective' electron temperature are measured, with a pulse interval between 1.5 and 200 mu s. It is found that not only does the repetition rate have a strong influence on the breakdown voltage and the peak discharge power, but it can also affect the rise rate of the volume averaged electron density and its peak value. Temporally and spatially resolved measurement of the electron density and the effective electron temperature show that the spatial distributions of both quantities are also influenced by the repetition rate. In the initial discharge period of all cases, the sharp rise of the electron density correlates with the drastic drop of the effective electron temperature. It is suggested that the residual charges have a strong impact on the axial distribution of the electric field and energetic electrons between the electrodes during the breakdown period, as illustrated by a simple sheath model.